Beyond DNA
by GrandOldPenguin
Summary: When parental responsibility is thrust upon Skipper, he considers it his most important mission ever. But what happens when the mission changes?
1. Rainbow After the Storm

**_Baltimore, Maryland  
>September 27, 2022<em>**

"You did all that anyone could do," the senior zookeeper at the Maryland Zoo said as she approached her associate, who had been standing outside the penguin habitat for quite some time. "You can't blame yourself, Roland."

"In my sixteen years of practicing veterinary medicine, the only penguins I've ever lost died of old age," Roland said. "I never thought I'd lose one because of sudden cardiac arrest, Connie. If only I had gotten here a minute sooner I might have been able to save her."

"You know better than any of us that a minute or two wouldn't have mattered. She was gone long before she was found. Even God Himself with a defibrillator couldn't have restarted her heart."

The vet sighed. "You're probably right. But that still doesn't make it easy to accept. She will be sorely missed."

Suddenly, the penguins inside the habitat all waddled over to the gate opposite to where Roland and Connie were standing. Intern Katelyn had just entered with two buckets of delicious breakfast fish. "Good morning, guys," she said.

"Morning," Roland and Connie replied together.

"I was talking to the penguins, actually, but good morning to you two as well," Katelyn called over to them.

"You'll have a few fish left over this morning, Katelyn," Roland said. "One of the females died. The one with the green and yellow band around her flipper."

"Aw, that's so sad," Katelyn said as she continued to feed the flock.

Ten minutes later, as Katelyn turned around to exit after completing her feeding duty, something caught her attention. "No way!" She dropped the now-empty buckets. "Connie, Roland, come take a look at this!"

The zookeeper and the veterinarian went around to the outside of the gate. Katelyn then carefully placed an object in Roland's right hand.

"Oh my, it's an egg," he said as he placed his left hand over it gently.

"I found it in the nest here to my left," Katelyn said as she pointed to it. "Isn't this where the female with the green and yellow band slept?"

"It sure is," Connie replied. "My, isn't this like the rainbow after the storm? She died but left a little surprise in the wake of her passing."

"What do we do with it?" Katelyn asked.

"Well, assuming the egg is fertile, I think the best chance the potential chick has would be with its father," Roland replied. "Of course, given the circumstances, that's easier said than done."

"Why's that?" Katelyn asked.

"The penguin that laid the egg was part of a special study," Connie said. "She didn't have a mate per se, at least not one she ever knew of. The intimate requirements for a chick were carried out artificially—in other words, daddy wasn't around at the time. The potential chick's father lives in the Central Park Zoo in New York."

"And I'm the one who went up to New York a few months ago to put everything in motion," Roland said. "A young lady working on her residency assisted me at the time of the male penguin's regular checkup. The whole procedure was executed with relative ease." Roland looked the egg over for a moment and then handed it back to Katelyn. "Here, put this back in the nest where you found it; it's probably the safest place for it at the moment. At least until I know whether the Central Park Zoo will allow the father to look after it."

"You think they'll let him?" Connie asked.

"I'm hopeful," Roland replied. "And if you ladies would excuse me, I think I'm going to go make that all-important phone call right now. Wish me luck." And with that, he turned around and left Connie and Katelyn for his office.

Once Katelyn had returned the egg to its nest, she and Connie left the habitat as well. Though the egg was the source of sudden excitement, there was still the rest of the zoo that had to be prepared for the day.

— § —

It was about thirty-five minutes later when Katelyn received a call on her radio from Roland requesting that she join him in his office. Happy to go there rather than to the elephant habitat to shovel waste, Katelyn leaned the shovel she was carrying against a nearby fence post and proceeded to the veterinary center.

"Well, Katelyn, I have some good news and some bad news," Roland said as she walked in. "The good news is that the Central Park Zoo agreed to take our egg provided they are allowed to keep the chick if it hatches. The bad news is that I'm going to have to ask you to go a bit beyond the call of your usual duties."

"How far beyond?"

"Roughly 190 miles. I need you to go to New York and drop off the egg. I'd do it myself, but I have a number of scheduled tasks that I really can't put off. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Sure—what's an unpaid internship for?"

Roland chuckled. "I'll see to it that you're reimbursed for gas and any other expenses. And if the board of directors has any problem with it, I'll pay for everything from my own pocket." He then pointed to his left, where a small animal transport crate sat on top of a metal examination table. "To be honest, since you're our best intern, I already knew that you'd agree to take the egg to New York. And as you can see, everything here is ready to go."

Katelyn peeked through the door of the carrier. Inside, she saw that the egg was resting peacefully in a nest of blue hand towels and was being incubated by a few chemical hand warmers. She smiled. "Very cute, Roland." She then took out her cell phone and snapped a quick photo of the egg all bundled up. "My friends are just going to love this on Facebook."

Moments later, Roland handed her a document authorizing the egg's transfer and a Post-it note with directions to the Central Park Zoo. Katelyn skimmed the directions for a moment and then picked the carrier up. "I guess I'm off, then," she said.

"Thanks for doing this, Katelyn," Roland said. "Have a good trip. Call if you need anything."

"Will do. See you tomorrow." She then left the office and set off to deliver the precious cargo to the Big Apple.

— § —

After a journey of around four hours, the egg was safe at the Central Park Zoo and was now under Alice's care. Having completed her duty, Katelyn then began her return trip to Maryland. Soon after, Alice called Roland to let him know that she had received the egg and to be given further instructions.

"Sorry again for not being able to come to New York myself," Roland said about a minute into the conversation. "I hate to think I'm inconveniencing you any."

"I'm stuck here until closing anyway, so it's no big deal," Alice replied. "Anyway, you still haven't told me which one of our penguins the lucky daddy is."

Roland was silent for a moment as he tried to recall what the penguin looked like. "Well, he's short."

"Penguins usually are. That eliminates only one here on my end, so you'll have to give me a better description."

"Well, let's just say he'll never have to call AAA for a flat since he's got a pretty good spare tire."

Alice chuckled. "Now I know the one. The ring-leading troublemaker of the bunch."

"Really? He seemed great when I saw him."

"Trust me, you don't know him like I do. I think he's just as suspicious of me as I am of him. Hopefully a chick will calm him down a bit so he doesn't think I want to send him to the moon every time I enter the habitat."

"Well, good luck with that," Roland said, not really knowing what else to say. "Anyway, give me a call if you have any questions, and please let me know once the egg hatches."

"Will do. Goodbye for now."

"Bye."

After hanging up the phone, Alice looked at the egg inside the carrier, which she had set on her desk. "Please do me a favor and don't take after your father. Putting up with four strange penguins is hard enough on me. If you agree, say nothing at all."

Hearing no objection, Alice carefully removed the egg from the carrier and proceeded with it to the penguin habitat.

As she entered the enclosure, she found the group performing the same routine that she often saw when she came by. "Weirdos," she remarked to herself before bending down to pull Skipper away from the others. "Come here, little guy, I've got something very special for you."

"If you think you're going to trick me by hiding pills inside a fish again, you've got another think coming!" Skipper protested as he tried in vain to resist the zookeeper. "You'll have to pry open my cold, dead beak before I ever take those drugs, and even then you'll still face the resistance of rigor mortis!"

But to his surprise, nothing sinister came about. Alice just moved him a short distance before letting go of him. She then placed the egg between his feet.

"What the—" he said.

Alice patted Skipper on the head. "Take good care of it, little fella." She then turned around to leave while checking her watch. "Ah, break time. Finally!"

As Alice exited, the other penguins waddled over to see what she had given their leader. The three stared in silence as they took in the sight of Skipper incubating what appeared to be an egg.

"Well, Skipper," Kowalski said after a few moments, "you're either a female after all or we've just been tasked with another round of eggy-sitting. Unless Alice just wanted you to warm her up a snack."

"Aww, you look so cute, Skipper!" Private said happily.

"Yup," Rico agreed.

Skipper picked the egg up from between his feet. "What's going on around here? It was one thing to be pressured by Marlene to look after little Eggy before he hatched thirteen years ago, but it's another to have our chief overlord thrust responsibility upon us. We don't even know what kind of creature we're dealing with here. We need answers." He pointed at Kowalski. "Kowalski, you know the drill."

The first lieutenant then defied the laws of physics by somehow producing his options clipboard from thin air, as was the norm. "To know for sure why Alice placed the egg with us, I suggest scanning her brain for information. Though there is a significant chance of a few adverse side effects."

"How bad are we talking?"

"In the worst-case scenario, Alice would become the first human microwave. She'd be able to pop popcorn in two minutes flat just by looking at it but couldn't be around individuals with older-style pacemakers."

Skipper shook his head. "Rejected. Give me something else."

"Well, I suppose we could just go old school and raid her workspace for clues."

"Works for me. To the zoo office, boys."

Following Skipper's lead, the team exited the habitat and proceeded to the office. After checking carefully to be sure that it was unoccupied, the four—five, counting the mystery unhatchling—entered the room.

"Spread out, gentlemen," Skipper said. "Look for any files or documents or anything else that might help us figure out what's going on."

Skipper, holding the egg in one flipper, then began to dig through the slew of papers hastily scattered on Alice's desk. Kowalski checked inside a filing cabinet by the window, Private went through one across the room, and Rico searched the contents of the trash can and recycling bin.

After a few minutes, Kowalski thought he had found what they were after. "I found something here filed under the 'Penguins' tab," he said. Their curiosity piqued, the other three quickly waddled over. Kowalski skimmed the document silently until—"Oh dear."

"What?" Private asked.

"I knew it!" Skipper yelled. "The humans are trying to bring back the dinosaurs and are using us to hatch their mad science!"

"Quite the contrary," Kowalski said. "It's a penguin egg."

The other three stood there with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"But that's not even the most startling detail," Kowalski continued.

"What is it?" Skipper asked.

"Apparently, Skipper ... it's your child."

The shock of the words Kowalski said nearly caused Skipper to lose his grip on the egg in his flipper. Fortunately, Private acted quickly and was able to prevent the egg from falling, deciding then that it might be best if he held on to it himself for the moment.

Skipper was confused. "What was that, Kowalski? Trust me, that's impossible. I've never been a participant in any egg-resulting activities."

"The document I'm looking at says otherwise," Kowalski said. "Apparently the mother of the unhatched chick was found dead this morning and had been part of a program at the Maryland Zoo aimed at studying chick-rearing exclusively by the mother. The necessary chick was fathered through an artificial process."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning its father was subjected to an extra poke and/or prod at the vet's office and probably knew nothing about what was happening. The document goes on to say that with the mother gone, it was decided the egg should be placed with its father to give the chick the best chance of survival. And since Alice gave the egg to you—"

"I, uh ... I understand," Skipper said.

Private handed the egg back to Skipper. "So, what happens now?"

Skipper didn't respond as he was quickly lost in a world in which only he and his newfound egg were present. The sensation of holding an egg was not completely foreign to him, but the life inside the shell being his own child was something he had never expected. But in an instant, it was all that mattered. A mission now and forever.

"What happens now?" Skipper said after a moment as he came out of his daydream, cradling his egg lovingly. "I think I've just been handed my most important mission ever. And I accept."


	2. Circle of Life

"All right, boys, preparing this HQ for the coming pitter-patter of little webbed feet starts right now," Skipper said once the penguins were back at the base. "We have exactly"—he turned to Kowalski—"well, Kowalski, just how long do we have until my egg hatches?"

"The offspring of our unique species of Spheniscidae typically hatch between thirty-five and thirty-nine days after the egg is laid. Your chick should be here within the first few days of November."

"Then we have just over a month to get things shipshape," Skipper continued. He then took a moment to look proudly at his unit before making a request of them. "Now, boys, unlike a certain former first lady, I don't think that it quite takes a village to raise a child. But it does take a family, and since you three are all like brothers to me, it would be an honor if you would be my chick's honorary uncles."

"Of course," Kowalski replied. "You didn't even have to ask."

"Happy to serve, Skipper," Private said with a smile.

Rico simply grunted affirmatively.

Skipper smiled. "Great to have you on board, boys—brothers. Now let's get to work." He then began to assign the expectant uncles various tasks to perform. "Kowalski, thinking time. Pull out your clipboard and jot down everything you know about penguin chicks and anything you don't know that needs to be researched. Rico, take an inventory of your explosives and weapons, and store anything that might spontaneously combust, explode, or discharge down in Level 12. Private, look around the HQ for things that need to be made childproof. Let me know how many electrical outlet covers we'll need, and think of a place to store all the screwdrivers, keys, and cutlery we usually just leave lying around on the floor." He gave his men a salute, and they waddled away to perform their duties.

As they did so, Skipper carried his egg to the table and then sat down to flip through the pages of a book of baby names, which Rico had given him from his bottomless digestive and storage tract during the walk back to the HQ. He began with the male section and then went on to the female pages.

After a while, Private waddled by while counting outlets. "Ooh, the baby name book! Find the right name yet, sir?"

Skipper made an indecisive gesture. "I'm trying to pick something that suits my chick, either a name from this book or an idea of my own, but it's a bit difficult since I can see my chick only as an egg right now. And 'Eggy' is already taken."

"Are you leaning toward anything at all right now?"

"Well, if it's a boy, I keep thinking Colt, Beretta, Remington, Glock, Smith, Wesson, or Ruger ... or Skipper Jr."

"And if it's a girl?"

"I ... haven't had as much luck with the female option. But something will strike me eventually."

Private's eyes lit up a little. "Well, Skipper, I know the names of all the female Lunacorns, even the single-episode extras." He pulled the pen Skipper was holding in his flipper away from him. "Here, let me write them down for you. There are a few gems among them that I'm sure you'll love—Gem is even one of them."

Skipper quickly grabbed the pen back before Private could write a single letter. "Private, if you ever have children and wish to name them after froufrou space equines, I'll roll my eyes but it would be your right. But there's no way I'm naming my child Moon Unit or anything of the sort."

"I think I'll take that as a suggestion to go back to what I was doing." Private turned around. "Good luck, Skipper."

As Private waddled away to resume his duties, Kowalski exited his lab and approached Skipper with a question of his own. "Skipper, could I see your egg for just a moment?"

Almost instantly, Skipper shook his head. "Denied, Kowalski. Sorry, but being an honorary uncle limits you to things like pulling a quarter out of my chick's earhole and playing 'got your beak.' I won't allow you to experiment on my child before or after it hatches."

"That's not why I wanted to see it, Skipper. I merely wanted to take a quick measurement to make sure that my incubator design would work."

"Incubator?"

"To ensure optimal temperature and humidity conditions for your developing little one. I'm actually a bit surprised that our zoo overlords aren't already working on this themselves."

Skipper thought about the idea for a moment but again shook his head. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I'm going to incubate the old-fashioned way. I'll make a nest of some sort, and I'll keep the egg safe and warm myself. It just seems right."

Kowalski nodded. "I admire your commitment and dedication, Skipper. Your paternal instincts are truly to be envied."

"It's not just instinct, Kowalski. It's love." Skipper held his egg close. "You know, all my life I saw chicks as just things that other penguins had. Cute little things vital to the survival of the species but not something I had ever thought about having myself. But with this egg in my flippers, everything has changed. I may not have expected to become a parent, but my chick expected even less to become my child. So I couldn't care less about never expecting to have this duty; it is impossible for me not to love the life that I have created."

"Powerful words, sir. It's beautiful that you can take a role you never expected to have and embrace it to the fullest. I'm proud to know you and to serve alongside you." He gave his leader a pat on the back. After a few moments, he began on a different topic. "So, how do you think Marlene will react to your future little one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, don't you think having a child might make things a bit awkward between you?"

"Given the circumstances, I know she will completely understand." He chuckled lightly. "Besides, this is Marlene we're talking about. If she wanted a normal, boring, humdrum life free from unexpected, far-out situations, she would never have married me."

Kowalski chuckled. "And she would never have volunteered for her first solo mission either, I suppose. Speaking of which, the robotic otter I built to cover for her isn't going to last forever and is completely useless should the vet ever want to examine her. It's been three months, sir. The mission wasn't supposed to take this long."

Skipper sighed. "I know. I'd be concerned but we trained her well. Whatever Blowhole Jr.'s European spies can throw at her I'm sure she can handle. But I do miss her."

Kowalski nodded and then continued to converse with Skipper for a few more minutes before returning to his lab.

— § —

As the hours passed, the three subordinate penguins helped Skipper wherever they were needed. Private, after completing his childproofing duties, made some smoothies and sat with Skipper, offering his leader various pieces of wisdom from his Uncle Nigel—at least from the wisdom he thought his uncle had before learning that he was an undercover penguin agent who actually hated doilies. Rico provided Skipper with various regurgitated items that he used to build a nest on the floor. He also escorted Julien out of the HQ when the lemur came in and started to think yet again that any egg found within the zoo was logically the heir to his throne. And Kowalski scored big when he stumbled upon an old cassette of _Danielle's Guide to Parenting: Baby Penguins_ that hadn't yet been recorded over with one of Skipper's personal logs, rock music, or Marlene's snoring like a lumberjack.

As night fell, Skipper and his teammates, though still excited about all that had happened that day, began to prepare for bed. Lights-out was soon after, and Kowalski, Rico, and Private climbed into their respective bunks for some shut-eye. Skipper's bunk, however, remained unoccupied; his place was now the nest he had built for his egg on the floor.

After several minutes of repeatedly assuring himself that his egg was in just the right position—safe, warm, protected against accidentally being crushed during the night—Skipper felt a warm sensation in his heart as he closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep. At this same time, as if knowing it was loved, the tiny embryonic heart of Skipper's chick began its formation.

Following a calm night, the morning sun was at work early to light and heat the earth as usual. The penguins, however, were not their typical early bird selves. Skipper, still asleep with his egg in the nest, had not yet called the rest of his sleeping unit, so all were oblivious that morning had arrived.

Eventually, the sunlight that entered through the HQ's porthole window was enough to wake Kowalski, who then glanced at the clock to see how late it was. When he saw that it was almost 10:00 a.m., he quickly got out of his bunk and waddled over to his sleeping leader. Lightly, he tapped Skipper on the shoulder. "It's nearly ten o'clock, sir," he whispered. "You overslept and didn't call us. But since I'm the only one who knows, I'll help you cover this up so you don't have to feel embarrassed in front of Rico and Private."

"There's no need," Skipper said, speaking through a yawn. "I didn't oversleep; I never intended to get up at our usual time. But since we're both awake, I think now's a good time to brief you about a little change in how we operate."

"What kind of change?"

"Well, even though we're not officially employed, I have quite a bit of vacation time saved up, and I've finally decided to take a little time off."

Kowalski was shocked. "Time off? I guess the world really is going to end in five months."

"It didn't end in 2012, and it's not going to end in 2023 or in any future year purported by those with end-times paranoia. And I know a thing or two about paranoia. But I digress." He moved over a bit so Kowalski could see the egg beside him. "Tending to this egg and looking after my chick once it hatches just have to be my top priorities for the next few months. Higher priorities than leading our unit. So until the start of the new year, I'm placing you in charge of daily operations."

Kowalski was speechless for a few moments before responding with a salute. "I accept, sir. I won't let you down."

Skipper returned the salute. "I know you won't." He then gestured to the bunks, where Rico and Private were still sleeping. "Now go call your subordinates for morning exercises. Dismissed."

And so began an era of great change in the Penguin Unit. Skipper was still the leader in rank and title, but Kowalski was in charge of the day-to-day for the time being. It was Kowalski who now decided when to have the snow cone raids, the intel-gathering missions, and the sudden fits of paranoia. Skipper, meanwhile, remained inside the HQ nearly all the time, heading up to the cement island for only a quick bite of fish and the occasional waive to passersby as he tended to his egg and waited for the day that his chick would arrive.

— § —

On the morning of November 2, Skipper and Kowalski sat at the table playing a game of chess together, as they had done every morning for the past few weeks. It was Skipper's way of keeping sharp on strategy during his time away from actively leading his unit.

As he was about to capture one of Kowalski's bishops, Skipper paused for a moment when he heard a very faint and unfamiliar cracking sound coming from somewhere in the HQ. "What's that sound?" he said as he began to look about. "Private, what snack food are you trying to nibble on quietly without my knowing?"

"Nothing, sir," Private replied from across the room.

Skipper began to think he had just imagined the sound, so he looked back at the board and captured the bishop he had targeted.

But there it was again.

Skipper suddenly stood up and left the table. "Where are you going?" Kowalski asked.

"Instinct," was his only reply.

When Skipper reached where the feeling had led him, the mystery of the sound's origin was over. He smiled proudly for a few seconds before announcing his new job title. "Boys, I'm officially a father today!" His teammates quickly gathered around him, and they all saw that the tiniest hole in the shell of Skipper's egg had been chipped away, with a beak poking from it every few seconds working to break free.

"Your chick has begun to pip, Skipper," Kowalski said. "It should be fully out of its shell within the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours."

Skipper chuckled. "It may have taken _you_ thirty-six to forty-eight hours to hatch since you were probably in there calculating where best to begin pecking and totaling the number of pecks per hour on your teeny-tiny abacus, but this chick is a Fidelis. He or she should be out in no time."

The new father was right for the most part. Although it did take a few hours, the team watched intently as new life slowly but surely made its way into the world. But after the chick was about three-fifths out, Skipper was too excited to continue just watching and waiting.

"Here, let Daddy help you out a little," he said as he bent down and carefully began to work the remainder of the eggshell off his chick. Within moments, his chick was completely outside of its egg. Skipper gently lifted the tiny hatchling into his flippers and kissed it. "Welcome to the world, MaryRose."

"Aww," Private and Rico said together.

"Congratulations, Skipper," Kowalski said as he patted Skipper on the back. "Though I do have to ask why you just suddenly gave your chick a girl's name. You know all too well that a penguin's sex cannot be determined without DNA analysis, especially when only seconds out of the egg."

Skipper smiled. "I'm her father, Kowalski. I can just tell."

Skipper held MaryRose close to his body with one flipper and, with his other, began to lightly brush away the little bits of egg material still stuck to her short, damp feathers. As he did so, she spread her tiny flippers and placed them on Skipper's chest. "I love you too," he said as tears came to his eyes. He then used his free flipper to softly stroke her back like MaryRose was the most innocent and most precious thing in the entire universe—to him, she was.

— § —

Skipper felt the proudest he had ever felt in his life. In the short time that he had been an official father, he had held MaryRose, rocked her in his flippers, whispered to her, sang to her, and allowed the others to hold her and Kowalski to weigh her. He enjoyed very much being lost in these beautiful moments, though he knew there were other parental responsibilities besides the cute and cuddly ones. One in particular was quite important, and he couldn't put it off much longer.

Spotting Rico now across the HQ, Skipper called over to him, "Hey, Rico, got a minute? I need a bit of advice."

Rico waddled over to see what his leader needed. "Yeah?"

"Well, Rico, the few times in my life that I've lost my lunch have been completely involuntary, but MaryRose needs to eat, and it's my responsibility to feed her. So I was hoping that as our resident vomit expert you might have a few pointers on regurgitation technique."

Rico nodded and then mumbled a string of gibberish that only those who knew him could understand.

"Really?" Skipper asked.

Rico mumbled his reply.

"Really?"

Rico continued.

"That much, huh?"

Rico mumbled some more.

"For real?"

Rico mumbled again.

"Wow," Skipper said. "I guess I really have my work cut out for me. Thanks for all the help and all the, um, descriptive detail."

"Yup," Rico grunted.

As Rico turned to leave, Skipper set MaryRose down on the floor by his feet. "For you, I'd do anything." He then bent down to her level and cleared his throat. "I'll admit it's no five-star establishment, but the Skipper Café is open for business. No lines, no rude waiters, no 15 percent gratuities; just us at a table for two. I recommend the herring—let's share a plate."

And so lunch was served.

— § —

As the day went on, word spread among the zoo animals that Skipper's chick had arrived. It was a particularly special occasion because, even though the zoo's population was made up of a diverse group of animals, the great majority were not native New Yorkers, having been born at other zoos or in the wild. By closing time, they were all eager to see their youngest fellow attraction, so they gathered outside the penguin habitat as soon as the gates were locked.

"Kowalski, who's out there?" Skipper called across the HQ after hearing some noise outside.

Kowalski waddled over to the periscope and looked through it. He chuckled. "Everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone from Burt to Barry to that new guy whose species I'm still not sure of. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they want to see your little one."

Skipper smiled. "Then I guess it's time for them to meet the next generation. Let's go, boys."

Skipper carried MaryRose carefully under one flipper as he and the others climbed the ladder up to the cement island. Once outside, the other three stood in a line behind Skipper as he held MaryRose in his flippers as high as he could for all to see and adore.

The gathering of animals reacted warmly to her debut. Burt trumpeted. The chimps jumped around as they screeched with approval. Others clapped their paws or stomped their feet, while Julien swung Mort around by the tail like a noise maker.

Maurice turned to Julien. "You know, this all seems like something I saw in a movie once."

Julien responded by humming the chorus of "Circle of Life."

After a minute or so, Skipper lowered MaryRose and began to address the gathering. "Ladies and gentlemen, mammals and lower mammals, thank you for being so welcoming to my daughter. MaryRose Elizabeth Fidelis hatched this morning at 11:52 a.m. and weighted 89.6 grams before her first feeding." MaryRose then wiggled a bit in Skipper's flippers. "And if my paternal instinct is correct, I think she's just about ready for another. I will assume that most of you are not interested in watching me regurgitate a small portion of partially digested herring, so I think I'll head back inside. Thanks again for coming out."

As the penguins turned around to return to the HQ, MaryRose turned herself around in Skipper's flippers and positioned herself to again face the crowd. As Skipper stopped to try to figure out what she was doing, MaryRose smiled and, with a small movement of her right flipper, waved goodbye to the gathering that had welcomed her.

"That's amazing, Skipper," Kowalski said. "She's never seen the 'smile and wave' routine, yet she's got it all figured out."

Skipper smiled. "What can I say? She's her father's daughter."


	3. The Power of Love

"I should have bit him! I should have bit him!"

"Relax, Skipper," Kowalski said the following morning as he, Rico, and Private tried to restrain their leader. "Because he discovered this morning that MaryRose had hatched, the vet just wants to examine her to make sure she is healthy."

Skipper kept trying in vain to pull away from his teammates. "But she is healthy! She doesn't need his twisted medicine when she's got me! I can only imagine what kinds of sick things he's doing to her right now. Needles might be involved."

"I doubt it, Skipper. But even if he does give MaryRose a shot, I'm 97.4 percent sure that he wouldn't derive any pleasure from poking a needle in her rear."

"Well, I'd sure derive some putting a needle in his! I swear the only reason that man is a vet is that he couldn't cut it as a dentist."

Kowalski shuddered at the very mention of such a practitioner.

Skipper finally stopped resisting his teammates' hold on him. "Uh, sorry, Kowalski. Let's say he couldn't cut it as an optometrist instead."

An hour or so later, the vet returned with MaryRose in his hands. "There you are, friend," he said as he set MaryRose down next to her father. "According to the tests I performed, you've got yourself a nice, healthy girl. But you probably already knew that, didn't you, fella?"

"You bet I knew that, and I didn't have to spend four years in veterinary school at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell you," Skipper replied as though the vet could understand him.

As the vet exited the habitat, Skipper lifted MaryRose into his flippers. "Are you OK, MaryRose? Did that man hurt you? Does Daddy need to take somebody out and make it look like an accident?" MaryRose just stared at him for a moment before making a small cheep. "Are you hungry? You're always hungry. But you'll have to wait until Alice comes by to feed us before I can feed you."

"Skipper," Private said, "I'll go get one of my Peanut Butter Winkies if you want to feed MaryRose now."

Skipper shook his head. "I don't want to load MaryRose up with sweets when she's not even a full day old. Thanks anyway, though."

Shortly after, Alice came by on her feeding rounds and tossed several fish toward the penguins' food dish, missing it completely with most of them but at least landing the fish somewhere on the island. She then turned around to leave before doing a double take. "Ah, so I see you've hatched," she said as she saw MaryRose for the first time. "Roland will be thrilled to hear the news. Behave yourself now." She then left to continue her rounds.

Once Alice was gone, the penguins waddled over to where the fish had landed and quickly consumed the capelin that they had been given. Skipper mashed up some of his fish with his beak instead of swallowing each one whole so that he wouldn't have to wait for his food to partially digest before feeding MaryRose. Once he was full, the Skipper Café was once again open for business, this time serving from its breakfast menu. And as MaryRose enjoyed her latest meal, a group of zoo visitors gathered in front of the habitat to watch.

When feeding time was over, Skipper picked MaryRose up and held her as the visitors all awwed over her. "I hate to break it to you, Private, but you're no longer the cute one," he said as he turned to Private. "And as much as I love you like a brother, I'm going to try my hardest to make sure MaryRose gets the cover of the next zoo brochure."

Private chuckled and then reached out to pat MaryRose on the head. "I look forward to the competition, little one," he said with a smile. "I have no chance," he thought to himself.

A few moments later, Rico mumbled something to Skipper as he did a little waddle back and forth and gestured to the crowd with a flipper.

Skipper shook his head. "Not yet, Rico. I know it's been a while since we've done the 'cute and cuddly' routine, but I can't be a part of the performance and be with MaryRose at the same time. Sorry, but the routine will have to wait until I return form paternity leave." He looked down at MaryRose. "Until then, I've got all the cute and cuddly I need right here."

— § —

**_November 5, 2022_**

Although she couldn't yet speak in words, the smile on MaryRose's face spoke a thousand of them. They were about equal to the words Skipper's own smile was saying—or that he might say himself if he could catch his breath.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you actually enjoyed being tickled," Kowalski said after walking in and finding Skipper and MaryRose tickling each other on the floor of the HQ. "You don't even like it when Marlene does it. You look like you're having the time of your life."

"I am, Kowalski," Skipper replied, holding MaryRose on top of his chest for a moment. "Having MaryRose makes me feel alive in ways I've never felt before—in ways I didn't even know existed. I wouldn't trade being her father for the world."

"And by the look on MaryRose's face, I don't think she'd trade you for the world either." He paused for a moment as he watched Skipper and MaryRose resume their tickling game. "Anyway," he continued, "I just came in to get my clipboard. I couldn't find it behind my back, and Rico and Private are waiting for me to begin this morning's workout." He then went to get his clipboard and then returned outside to lead the others.

Around forty-five minutes later, Kowalski, Rico, and Private came down the ladder after their morning exercises. Skipper was still playing with MaryRose on the floor—she was now amusing herself by crawling in and out of an empty cereal box. It was a decades-old collectible featuring Buck Rockgut's picture on the front, but it had quickly become MaryRose's latest plaything.

"So, how did the routine go?" Skipper called over to Kowalski, noticing an unexpected expression on his face. "And what's with the big smile? It's creeping me out a little."

"To borrow your word, sir, the routine was _excelente_," Kowalski replied. "I've just redesigned our regular workout to work our muscles twice as hard in half the time with a quarter of the effort!"

"_Excelente_ indeed!" Skipper said. He paused for a moment. "Um, your redesign doesn't involve _Sweatin' to the Oldies_ or those old as-seen-on-TV ab belts, does it?"

"No, sir. My redesign is 100 percent original. Get up and I'll show you how to do it."

Skipper then felt something cardboard bump into him lightly. He lifted up the cereal box, which MaryRose was now walking inside of, and smiled at her. "I'm a little too busy to participate myself," he said, "but I'll watch if you boys want to give me a demonstration." He then set the box back down on the floor.

Kowalski nodded, and a few moments later, he lined up alongside Rico and Private, and the three began to execute the new routine. It appeared relatively normal to Skipper at first, but it quickly picked up in its intensity and excitement. "Jump, kick, spin, dive!" Kowalski called the moves out. "Work your body, feel alive!"

As his teammates chopped their flippers of fury in front of him, Skipper was quite impressed. To his right, he noticed that MaryRose had become uninterested in the old box and was now focused on watching the demonstration as well. She rocked herself from side to side as she looked on, perhaps trying to copy the moves in her own special way.

After watching her for a moment, Skipper picked her up and carried her over to where the others were performing the demonstration. "Can you boys slow down a little, please?" he asked. After they did so, Skipper set MaryRose down on the floor and then got down on it behind her. He then took each of her flippers in his own and began to guide her through each of the moves that Kowalski was instructing.

Punches, kicks, spins—Skipper showed her everything. And the three-day-old was quite delighted to be playing this new game.

Private turned to them and smiled. "I don't know what's cuter, Skipper: MaryRose's little moves or you guiding her through them."

"MaryRose," Skipper replied. "Penguin chicks are always cuter."

The demonstration continued for a few more minutes until Kowalski gave his final command. Skipper then stopped guiding MaryRose and let go of her, but she didn't want the game to end. On her own, she began to throw cute little punches in the air.

"She's a chip off the old block, I think," Kowalski said. "Though her punches may not be able to stun a fly, she certainly has your fighting spirit, Skipper."

MaryRose began to waddle away a short distance, still imitating some of the moves she had just been guided through. Skipper quickly went after her, not wanting her to accidentally hurt herself. "Be careful now, sweet—" His caution ended nearly as soon as it began as MaryRose suddenly spun around and struck one of the cinder blocks by the table with a flipper. "MaryRose!"

As she began to cry, Skipper bent down and picked her off the floor. He looked at her right flipper; there was a small cut but nothing serious. He hugged her and told her that everything would be OK as he carried her over to the sink to wash the minor injury with soap and water.

The washing stung a little, but MaryRose somehow knew that Skipper wasn't trying to cause her any intentional discomfort. She quickly stopped crying. Once washed, Skipper patted the wound dry and then gently kissed the injury. "All better, sweetie," he said.

As Skipper continued to hold her in his flippers, MaryRose turned her head toward the small cut on her right flipper. Whatever Skipper had done to it had stopped the pain, and the wet red stuff was now dry. She then took one of Skipper's flippers between hers and hugged it while resting her head against her father's chest. She made a relaxed, happy sound and then shut her eyes.

— § —

**_November 7, 2022_**

Skipper couldn't believe what Kowalski was telling him. "You can't be serious! We can't put reports from those slimy vermin ahead of our own intel."

"I'm afraid we're going to have to," Kowalski said. "The sewer rats may hate our guts, but they're not going to make up a story like this. They have just as much reason to fear Savio heading toward Manhattan as we do."

Skipper shook his head and then conceded with a sigh. "So, how are you boys going to eliminate this threat?"

"I have a plan, but I'm afraid it's not a three-penguin operation. To defeat this serpent, I'm going to need you with us, sir."

Kowalski had barely finished his sentence before Skipper shook his head. "No. I won't leave MaryRose. I can't risk my life when she's still so young. She needs me too much."

"I understand, Skipper. I truly do. But without you, there's probably a 50 percent chance that Savio will make it to the zoo, and God forbid we are unable to protect MaryRose. With you, I'm confident that we can take him down miles away."

Skipper sighed, knowing he had no choice. "All right, Kowalski. I'll trust your plan. But who's going to watch MaryRose while we're gone?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question."

Skipper frowned. "You're not suggesting Ring-tail, are you?"

"He's really the logical choice when you think about it. Most other animals around here are just too big to look after a tiny little chick—they could easily scare MaryRose with their size or accidentally sit on her. And the smaller animals have their own disqualifying factors: Leonard is asleep right now, and he's not fond of us anyway; the baboons are busy trying to help Darla undo a hex she accidentally put on herself; your trypanophobia prevents you from trusting the porcupines; et cetera." He paused for a moment. "Besides, Julien already has experience when it comes to looking after penguin chicks ... right, Petey?"

"Don't remind me," Skipper replied. "You know, Ring-tail _still_ can't get it through his royal head that 'Petey' was me." He sighed. "Well, I should probably get MaryRose over to Julien before he eats his mangoes. He's always crazier after the fruit kicks in."

A few minutes later, Skipper carried MaryRose with him to the lemur habitat, where he found Julien jumping around inside his bounce house like the party animal he was and would always be.

"Ah, flightless visitor and little flightless visitor!" the king greeted when he saw Skipper and MaryRose coming his way, not slowing down his bouncing any. "Come to join me in my bouncy?"

"Could you maybe stop bouncing and at least pretend to act your age for a moment?" Skipper asked as he approached the bounce house. "Even Peter Pan would find your behavior a little juvenile. I've got a favor to ask you."

Julien jumped extra high for one final bounce and then stopped. "Well, that depends. What's in it for me?"

"The same thing that's always in it for you: the assurance that no matter how foolish and/or infantile your behavior and no matter how strange the predicaments you get yourself into, I will always bail you out, save your life, or prevent you from sustaining bodily injury because I believe too much in doing what's right to do otherwise. If you can find a better deal, take it."

Julien tipped his crown to Skipper. "Point taken. How can my royal services be of the usings to you?"

"I have a mission I need to go on today with the boys, and I was hoping you could take care of MaryRose while I'm gone." He handed his daughter to the lemur king.

Julien cradled the chick in his arms and smiled. "Aww, she is so cute! She reminds me of little Petey all those years ago. How come he never comes to visit?"

Skipper rolled his eyes. "I just fed her, so you don't have to worry about her next mealtime; I'd appreciate it very much if you didn't try to force-feed her prechewed watermelon. For play, you can take her into your bounce house, but be very, very gentle. I should only be a few hours."

Julien looked down at MaryRose and smiled at her. "Are you ready to be having the fun with your Uncle King Julien?"

Skipper chuckled. "Don't get too attached, Ring-tail. She's mine."

After saying goodbye to MaryRose and thanking Julien, Skipper turned around to leave. He got half a step away when one final thought came to him. He spun around on his left foot to face Julien again. "Have fun, but if you even think about teaching MaryRose how to shake her booty, I'll shake you—over the Brooklyn Bridge."

Julien nodded. "No problem. I promise to be putting off all the booty shaking until tonight."

Skipper knew that meant he and the others would be getting less sleep that night, but it would be worth it to prevent MaryRose from picking up one of Julien's most annoying habits. He nodded back and then turned around to leave once again.

— § —

For the next several hours, Julien entertained MaryRose any way he could think of—well, except for the ways that Skipper would find objectionable. While he kept his word not to engage in any booty shaking, nothing had been said about simply _listening_ to the music, nor had there been any prohibition on forcing Maurice and Mort to join him in performing some karaoke for her. MaryRose seemed to enjoy the show; she even giggled in amusement when Julien kicked Mort off his feet when the little lemur got a little too close while doing an otherwise flawless performance of Kenny Loggins's "Footloose."

After the karaoke was over, Julien decided to put on a puppet show for her. It began simply enough as a made-up fairy tale about princes and princesses, but it soon turned into a retelling of Julien's own life story, peppered with all the delusions of grandeur that one could expect. Afterward, Julien entertained MaryRose by painting faces on various fruits and vegetables and then naming each one. Finally, Julien took MaryRose into his bounce house for a little light bouncing, first holding her as he hopped around gently and then allowing her to try it herself while he stood outside and watched.

At around 3:30 in the afternoon, the penguin foursome entered the lemur habitat, returning from their mission against Savio. Private was leading the way as Kowalski and Rico each held on to Skipper's flippers to steady their leader as he waddled slowly.

Maurice was loading pieces of tropical fruit into a blender as the team walked past the juice bar. "Dear Lord, Skipper! What happened to you?" he said, losing his grip on two mangoes at the sight of Skipper.

"Oh," Skipper said, "the boys are just helping to keep me steady because I'm a bit sore from the mission we went on."

"Not that, Skipper," Maurice said, pointing to Skipper's left eye. "_That_."

His eye was closed but there were several scratches and bruises around the area and on the lid itself, as well as a fair amount of blood. "Oh. Well, do you remember Savio?"

"Hard to forget a guy when you've been inside his digestive tract."

"Well, the mission was against him. We defeated him, but not before he managed to grab me by the head and pierce a few teeth through my eye. I can't see a thing through it." He slowly opened his eye for Maurice to see. "Kowalski says I'll probably lose it."

Maurice sighed. "That's pretty rough. I'm sorry, man."

"When I think about what I could have lost, an eye is nothing."

As Skipper and Maurice continued to converse, Julien walked over to them.

"Where's MaryRose?" Skipper asked.

"Asleep in my bouncy. She was such a joy for the royal me." He then noticed Skipper's injury. "Eh, you have a little something in your eye. Want me to get it for you?"

Skipper shook his head. "Just a new battle wound for the collection. I'll survive."

Feeling able to make it over to Julien's bounce house on his own, Skipper had Rico and Kowalski let go of him, and after thanking Julien, he waddled over to pick up his daughter. The other penguins followed in case they were needed.

Although he hadn't intended to wake her, MaryRose awoke when Skipper began to pick her up. After opening her eyes to see what was happening, she suddenly began to cry.

"What's wrong, MaryRose?" Skipper got on his back inside Julien's bouncy and held MaryRose on his chest to try to comfort her. When he saw her look up at his injury, he quickly knew what was the matter. "Don't be scared, MaryRose. It's still me."

MaryRose stopped crying when she recognized her father's voice. But she soon began to fidget in Skipper's flippers as if still distressed and wanting to get away. Skipper relaxed his flippers to let her move freely.

"MaryRose, what are you—"

That's all he was able to say before MaryRose climbed onto his face and lightly kissed his closed left eye. She just as quickly backed up a little and began to hug him below his beak. "You're trying to make me better," he said as he began to tear up. "Thank you, sweetie." He placed his flippers back around her and held her close.

Moments later, Skipper had to open his left eye to properly drain the tears that had collected. He did so with a surprise. He had to blink a few times to be sure it wasn't his imagination before he exclaimed, "I can see!"

"What was that?" Kowalski asked.

"I can see through my left eye, Kowalski! It's like nothing ever happened! It doesn't even hurt much anymore."

Kowalski was astonished. "That's wonderful, Skipper." He leaned over Skipper to take a closer look at his eye. "The perforations still need to be repaired, but it appears that the production and release of tears amazingly restored your vision." He then looked at MaryRose still hugging her father. "Either that or there's something magical about your daughter."

Skipper smiled. "Love isn't magic, Kowalski. It's real."


	4. Show Me the World

**_November 9, 2022_**

"And we have 174.2 grams," Kowalski said, reading the LCD on his digital scale in his lab. "MaryRose has nearly doubled her weight since she hatched last week." He lifted MaryRose from the scale and handed her back to Skipper.

Behind them, Private handed Rico a can of sardines—Rico's guess of 177 grams had been closer.

"Is that a good weight, Kowalski?" Skipper asked.

"It falls perfectly within the healthy range for one-week-old Classified penguin chicks. You have nothing to worry about, Skipper." He then whispered in Skipper's earhole, "Heck, MaryRose will probably be as tall as Private before you know it."

"I heard that!" Private objected.

"Well, I don't want her to grow up too fast," Skipper said. "I want her to enjoy every minute of her childhood, and _I_ want to enjoy every minute of her childhood. I think it would also be nice if she had someone around her own age to play with too."

"And how would that work?" Kowalski asked. "The laws of nature and moral boundaries prevent you and Marlene from having children, and no one else around here has kids or is expecting any."

"Not yet, at least."

"I'm afraid I don't follow you."

"I'm giving you boys two weeks to find girlfriends. Browse the nearby zoo websites—Bronx, Maryland, Philadelphia—I'm sure there are some lovely available gals out there. Ideally, you should all be married by Christmas but by Groundhog Day at the very latest."

"Uh, what?" Rico mumbled.

Private just stared.

"Yeah ... that's a pretty tall order, Skipper," Kowalski said.

"Well, you're a pretty tall guy." Skipper looked at the expressions of the three penguins surrounding him. "Married by Easter, then? Flag Day? No?" He was still getting nowhere. He was suddenly becoming just as uneasy as they were. "Eh ... we'll just table this for now, OK?"

"I'll second that," Kowalski said. He, Rico, and Private then waddled away to get ready for morning training.

After they left, Skipper ran a flipper over the soft down feathers on MaryRose's head. She smiled as he did so; she seemed to always smile whenever she and Skipper were together. "Well, MaryRose," he said quietly to her, "it's hard to believe you're a week old already. It feels like you hatched only yesterday, though it also feels like you've been a part of my life forever." He kissed the top of her head. "Happy one-week birthday, sweetie. May your next seven days be even better than your first."

Skipper began to leave Kowalski's lab but stopped when he noticed that Kowalski's scale was still on. As he flicked the switch to turn it off, he said to his daughter, "Good job gaining those 84.6 grams over the past week. I've probably lost about as much feeding you, but between you and me, that was weight I could afford to lose. I'm just glad to know that your development is on track." He chuckled. "Heck, with the progress you're making, you'll probably be talking before long."

MaryRose giggled and then held her beak open.

"Hungry again, huh?" Skipper chuckled. He took a deep breath and then began to lose a little more weight before suddenly stopping and swallowing what he had begun to regurgitate back down.

"L-l-l," MaryRose said.

Skipper's beak dropped. "Whoa! I didn't expect you to start talking _this_ soon!"

"L-l-l," MaryRose continued.

Skipper was elated. "I have to share this!" He carried MaryRose out of Kowalski's lab and then quickly climbed the ladder to join his teammates, who were now outside.

There on the island, Kowalski was calling out defense moves as he, Rico, and Private executed them flawlessly. They were so focused on their routine that Rico nearly kicked Skipper by accident when Skipper ran up to them unexpectedly. "Training is canceled, boys! Training is canceled!" he shouted, his tone suggesting joy, not alarm.

The three stopped their routine, but Kowalski was a bit confused. "I thought I was in charge of—"

"MaryRose is trying to say her first word!"

Kowalski smiled. "Ah, precious milestones." He, Rico, and Private then waddled up close to Skipper and MaryRose to witness the moment.

MaryRose still wasn't quite there, however. "L-l-l."

"Come on, MaryRose," Skipper said. "You can do it."

"L-l-lollipop," Private encouraged, smiling at his niece.

"Ludwig van Beethoven," Kowalski suggested.

"Laggafraggalaga," Rico mumbled.

Skipper held a flipper up to quiet the others. "Guys, let her do it on her own."

MaryRose made another attempt. "L-l-l-lemur."

Skipper chuckled at MaryRose's utterance and then hugged her. "Interesting choice, but I love you anyway. I'm proud of you."

But MaryRose had just a little bit more to say. "L-lemur silly."

"Ha-ha!" Skipper grinned and then kissed MaryRose on the cheek. "You _are_ one of us! I wish I had gotten that on tape!"

"Well," Kowalski said, "it's more than likely that at least one of the government spy satellites above us has this moment on record, but good luck trying to get a copy of the footage. But anyway, that was just priceless."

"And cute," Private said.

"Yup," Rico agreed.

Skipper smiled. "Thanks, boys. I'm glad I could share this moment."

— § —

Once MaryRose had managed to say her first words, there was no stopping her. Within days, her vocabulary had expanded to include words like "Daddy," "penguin," "feathers," "hungry," and "Strategic Defense Initiative"—Skipper wasn't sure where she had learned that last one, but needless to say he was impressed. Every day she learned a handful of new words from her father, uncles, and surroundings; by the middle of her third week of life, she was able to express herself through short but clear sentences. And every word she spoke brought music to Skipper's earholes and tears to his eyes.

"Let's sing it again, Daddy!" MaryRose said sweetly as she walked beside Skipper through the zoo on Sunday. "Please?"

It would be the fifth time, but Skipper didn't mind a bit. With a simple smile, the two began it again:

"_All around the mulberry bush  
>The monkey chased the weasel<br>The monkey thought 'twas all in fun ..._"

Skipper lifted MaryRose into his flippers for the big finish: "_Pop! goes the weasel_."

MaryRose giggled as they finished the song. "I love this song, Daddy."

Skipper smiled. "I do too. But not nearly as much as I love you."

After a few moments, Skipper set MaryRose back down so she could continue walking beside him. She was just too excited about seeing the whole zoo for the first time to be carried around for long. And Skipper was equally excited about showing her the world.

As Skipper and MaryRose turned the corner by Roy's habitat, a blue jay flew by them and landed in a nearby tree. MaryRose looked at where it had perched on a branch for a moment before turning back to her father. "Daddy, can we go fly into the trees too?"

MaryRose's sweetness and innocence brought another smile to Skipper's face. Sweetness and innocence—he would never consider her naïve. "Oh, sweetie, penguins can't fly."

"We can't?"

Skipper shook his head.

"But I think I can do it." MaryRose outstretched her little flippers and flapped them slowly, getting nowhere but at least looking cute while getting there.

After a few moments, Skipper stopped her by lifting her into his flippers. "You know, you remind me of myself when I was still wet behind the earholes. I thought that I might be able to fly too. I finally tried when I was two months old, and that's the story of the first time I broke my left flipper." He kissed MaryRose on the side of her face. "Penguins can't fly, MaryRose, but I still think we're the greatest birds of all because of what we _can_ do."

"What's that?"

"We swim. And while there are some other seabirds out there that can go below the surface, no other bird on earth can glide through the water with the grace of a penguin."

MaryRose was amazed. "Really? Let's go swimming, Daddy!"

Skipper chuckled. She was so cute. "I'd love to, but you've got to get a bit older first. Your fluffy little feathers need to become waterproof like mine before I can take you for a swim." MaryRose ran a flipper over the feathers on her body and then reached to feel the ones on Skipper's chest. A thought came to him. "Let's head back home. There's something I have to show you."

— § —

It was almost showtime. "We're on in two minutes, Skipper," Kowalski called down into the HQ from the cement island. After a weeks-long hiatus, the penguin team was about to perform the first "cute and cuddly" routine in MaryRose's life.

"Prepare to be dazzled, MaryRose," Skipper said. Although the team was going to perform in front of zoo visitors, the show was really for MaryRose's enjoyment. "You're about to see just what a penguin can do." He picked her up and then carried her with him as he ascended the ladder to join his teammates.

When he got outside, Skipper saw Kowalski practicing a lifting move with Private in preparation for the start of the show. Next to them, Rico was stretching in a way that seemed painful if not physically impossible. After setting MaryRose down, Skipper clapped his flippers together to get their attention. "All right, gentlemen, let's get started. Let's make this one extra, extra, extra cute and cuddly for MaryRose and show her all she has to look forward to." Something in Rico's body then made a sound suggesting it had dislocated. "Except for that, whatever in MacArthur's name that was." He gave MaryRose a pat and then waddled over to join the others.

Moments later, the show began when the four adult penguins dropped to their bellies and slid one behind the other to form a circle around MaryRose. After circling her a few times, Skipper led the team into the water from the island's southern edge. In front of the crowd that had gathered, they began their in-water act by floating on top of the water in a variety of formations both on their backs and on their bellies. The penguins then stood up and defied the laws of physics with their "waddling on water" skills.

After an assortment of dives and porpoising a few laps around the pool, more advanced stunts got under way. First, Rico and Kowalski remained in place and tossed Skipper and Private back and forth to each other, with Skipper and Private high-fiving each other each time they passed in the air. Skipper and Rico then raced against each other like water-skiers; they were pulled by Private and Kowalski, respectively. Next, Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico took turns using Private as a launch pad to do flips and cannonballs into the water.

Throughout the demonstration, MaryRose clapped and cheered. Though the applause from the crowd was louder in comparison, no one was more delighted by the show than she was. And no one was more delighted by MaryRose's delight than Skipper.

As the routine continued, an idea came to Skipper. Without telling the others, he suddenly deviated from the routine as planned and swam on the surface of the water over to the northern edge of the island, which was out of view of the onlooking crowd. He smiled when MaryRose came over to him. "Do you think you can climb down onto my back?"

MaryRose nodded.

"Then climb aboard the SS _Skipper_. You may not be able to swim yet, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the fun."

Carefully, MaryRose climbed down from the island onto Skipper's back. "Now hold on tight to my neck, OK?" he said. "Use both flippers."

Once MaryRose had a firm hold on him, Skipper began to paddle away from the edge of the island slowly. As he rounded it to come into view of the spectators, a collective "Aww!" could be heard from the crowd as it was overwhelmed with cuteness.

The other penguins thought it was cute as well. "That is just so adorable, Skipper!" Private said. "It's a _penguin_-back ride."

The others then swam on top of the water and formed a line behind Skipper as if they were cars on a train. From the position of the caboose, Kowalski called out, "All aboard the _South Polar Express_!" The impromptu train then chugged two laps around the pool before Skipper and Kowalski changed positions so father and daughter could have a turn at the end.

After several more minutes of adorableness, the others separated, and Skipper returned MaryRose to the edge of the island. "Wasn't that fun, MaryRose?" he asked. By now, all the spectators had moved on to other habitats.

"I loved it! I loved it!" MaryRose cheered as she began to climb back onto the island. But climbing down onto Skipper had been far easier than trying to climb back up, and suddenly she found herself falling.

"Daddy!"

"MaryRose!"

Skipper quickly reached in the direction MaryRose had fallen, but she had already sunk too deep to be seen. Without even stopping to take a full breath, he dived into the water and scanned left and right, searching for his helpless daughter.

After seeing what happened, the other penguins immediately dived beneath the surface and swam over to join the search. But when they reached where Skipper was, they saw that he already had MaryRose in one flipper and was using his other to rush her to the surface.

MaryRose was completely limp and thoroughly soaked when Skipper placed her on her back on top of the island. The others were there a second later. A flood of unsettling thoughts raced through Skipper's mind as he touched his unresponsive daughter, but he knew he had to focus his full attention on action and not fear.

She wasn't breathing and had no pulse, so Skipper gave her two breaths of air before beginning to perform chest compressions. He was so afraid of hurting her; he had never imagined having to do CPR on someone so small.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to much longer.

With a gush of water from her mouth, MaryRose weakly opened her eyes and began to cough. "Daddy," she coughed, "Daddy, I love—" She couldn't finish her sentence as her coughing became too strong and she started to shiver.

"Don't try to talk, sweetie," Skipper said as he picked her up. "I'm here, and everything's going to be OK." She then vomited a little on his feathers, but Skipper didn't care. "Let's get you warmed up."

The penguins returned to the HQ, where Rico was quick to regurgitate a towel, which Skipper used to dry MaryRose of the cold water that had saturated her down. Skipper then held her while Kowalski used a hairdryer to dry away the dampness that remained. Once dry, Skipper wrapped her in a blanket and held her close.

"You feeling warmer now, sweetie?" he asked.

MaryRose nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm glad to hear that. Uncle Private's making you a nice fish stew, so you should be feeling even better in a few minutes. The pieces are small enough that you should be able to swallow them on your own. If you can't, I'll help you as always."

MaryRose let out a cute little sneeze. Skipper reached for a tissue and folded it for MaryRose to blow her nostrils just before she sneezed again. "I'm sorry, MaryRose," he said as he held the tissue for her as she blew. "I put you in danger, and that was a stupid thing for me to have done. I should never have let you anywhere near the water. I failed you."

At less than three weeks old, MaryRose naturally had a very limited understanding of the world around her. But she knew that her father wasn't a failure. "No, you saved me," she said as she shook her little head from side to side.

"I know I did, sweetie, but I was still responsible for—"

"It won't happen next time."

"What won't happen next time?"

"I won't fall in."

Skipper thought about what MaryRose had said for a moment. "You mean you want to go back near the water? Even after what happened?"

MaryRose nodded.

Skipper sighed. "MaryRose, sweetie, I am very proud of you for not letting what happened fill you up with fear. But I don't think there's going to be a next time until you're old enough to swim." He hugged her tightly. "I've seen a lot of disturbing things in my life that I wish I could forget, but the sight of you wet and unresponsive is the one that will haunt me the most. You've been a part of my life for such a short time, but you're the most important part of it. I can't think of anything worse than being without you."

Skipper folded the tissue, which he was still holding, to a clean section and then dabbed it under his eyes. Private then called out from the kitchen that the stew was ready.


	5. Footsteps

**_November 28, 2022_**

"We're heading out now, Skipper," Kowalski called over to his leader as he, Rico, and Private were about to head out on a few missions around the zoo. "Is there anything you'd like us to bring back?"

"Well," Skipper said, "rumor has it our zoo now has a breadstick vendor over by Ted's habitat. I could go for a little sample—extra sauce!"

Kowalski smiled and tapped his clipboard. "Already on my list, sir."

"Great work, Kowalski." Skipper smiled back, offered a salute, and then watched as his three teammates exited.

"Daddy, where do Uncle Kowalski, Uncle Private, and Uncle Rico go every morning?" MaryRose asked as she sat with her father on the floor of the HQ.

"That's classified, sweetie," he replied.

MaryRose looked up at him, confused.

Skipper chuckled. "I'm just kidding. Most of the time they're either training or off on a mission of some sort. Your uncles and I form an elite group that strives to uphold truth, justice, and the penguin way—we're kind of like Superman, except he can fly."

"You're part of the group, Daddy?"

"I'm the leader."

"Why don't you go with them?"

Skipper smiled. "Because you're much more important than getting some breadsticks." He picked MaryRose up and hugged her. "Giving you a good start in life is all that matters to me now. When you're older I'll go out with them again."

"And I can come too?"

"Well, you'd have to be quite a bit older before that could happen, but someday."

MaryRose began to think about age for a moment. She was almost old enough to be able to count how old she was on one flipper. "I'm almost one month," she said as she proudly held a flipper up. "How old are you, Daddy?"

Skipper chuckled and then answered, "Thirty-three."

To a young chick, a number that high was astonishing. "Thirty-three months!"

"Thirty-three _years_," Skipper clarified. "For a talking penguin, it's actually not that bad an age. But I'm roughly 396 times older than you are, plus a few months."

"Wow," MaryRose said, still amazed. "But maybe someday I can be older than you."

Skipper patted MaryRose on the head. "Well, every year older you get, I'll get a year older too, but you're more than welcome to try to catch me."

MaryRose smiled as Skipper patted her, but her thoughts soon returned to the team her father was a part of. "What are missions like?" she asked.

Skipper thought about MaryRose's question for a moment. She, obviously, was much too young to hear about Dr. Blowhole, Hans, or even Manfredi and Johnson. So much of what the Penguin Unit did was scary or was just too strange for a young chick to understand; some things were actually classified for a reason. Still, some operations were much simpler in comparison. "Well, MaryRose," he said after about thirty seconds had passed, "let me tell you about the day we were cut off from our popcorn supply."

— § —

As the day went on, MaryRose's interest in penguin missions remained on Skipper's mind. When his teammates returned to the HQ for the day, he discussed MaryRose's interest with them over the breadsticks they had brought back.

"Well," Kowalski said as he dipped a cheesy breadstick into the special dipping sauce, "it sounds to me like MaryRose wants to follow in your footsteps."

Skipper nodded. "She's not too far behind. Yesterday she asked me if she could have a sip of my fish coffee. I was a bit hesitant to give her caffeine at first, but then I figured one sip wouldn't hurt. But then this morning she asked for _two_ sips."

Private chuckled. "I think it's so sweet that MaryRose wants to be just like you."

"I do too," Skipper said. "That's why I'm thinking about trying something, if you boys would help me."

"What do you have in mind?" Kowalski asked.

"Well," Skipper said, "MaryRose shouldn't really participate in any of our missions until she's quite a bit older, and there are some missions that she should just _never_ be a part of. But nothing says we can't involve her in a few 'special missions' so she can feel part of our team right now."

"So you want us to make up missions?" Kowalski asked.

"Well, maybe a little," Skipper said, "but I was thinking more along the lines of taking the really small tasks we already do and calling them 'missions.' You know, changing the coffee filter and helping Private pick up his Lunacorns when playtime is over. Things like that. We'd just help her with whatever she's doing."

"I like the idea, Skipper," Private said. "Even though I think I'm old enough to put away my own Lunacorns."

"I concur with Private," Kowalski said. "You know, except for the Lunacorns part."

"Yup," Rico agreed.

"Then it's unanimous: MaryRose is now in charge of special operations of the special variety," Skipper said. He looked across the HQ to where MaryRose was playing with some assorted toys from the zoo's lost and found and called for her to join them.

"Yes, Daddy?" she said as she waddled up to him. She was carrying a small beanbag with her.

"MaryRose," he said, "I was just telling your uncles about your interest in penguin missions, and we were all so impressed that we've decided you can help us out a little."

MaryRose was elated. "Really!" A wide smile came to her face.

Skipper nodded and then got up from the table. "And you can begin right now. The TV remote control has been a bit slow lately, so I need you to help me change the batteries. Commence Operation: Double A!"

Never before had anyone been more alacritous to change batteries. "OK!" she said. She set her beanbag down on the table and then followed Skipper to the TV.

— § —

**_December 1, 2022_**

"Blue, MaryRose," Kowalski said. MaryRose handed him the blue crayon from the eight-color crayon box she was holding.

"Brown, please," Private said. MaryRose handed him the brown crayon.

Rico mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Red," so MaryRose handed him the red crayon.

"Green, sweetie," Skipper said. MaryRose handed him the last crayon in the box. "Excellent, MaryRose," he said. "You know your basic colors. You've passed Operation: Crayola with flying colors—no pun intended."

And with that, another one of MaryRose's missions—and her first quiz—was a mission accomplished.

Over the course of just a few days, the nature of MaryRose's missions quickly expanded from purely simple tasks—holding Kowalski's pencil for him in the lab, helping Private unwrap his Peanut Butter Winkies—to things that were comparatively more flippers-on, like tossing peanuts to Burt, securing an electronic bug below a bench using old chewing gum, and using Skipper's binoculars to help him with lookout duty while the others raided the pretzel cart. Everything was highly planned out for MaryRose's safety, but she enjoyed every bit of her experiences just as much as Skipper enjoyed being able to expose her to as much of his world as she could comprehend and stay safe in.

Her latest mission complete, MaryRose collected the crayons from the others and then began to hand the box to Skipper when he stopped her. "No, no, sweetie," he said, "those are yours to keep. You've earned them."

MaryRose smiled. "Thanks, Daddy."

Just then, the five penguins heard Alice outside gruffly complaining to herself about the mundanity of her job, her insufficient pay, and the appreciation she was never shown for her toils—the usual—which was quickly followed by the sound of a handful of fish landing on top of the cement island.

"Mealtime!" Skipper said. He then bent down and picked MaryRose up to carry her outside.

"Daddy," she said, "can our next mission be a fishing mission?"

"Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea for the future, but I don't think a fishing trip can be our _next_ mission," he replied. "To catch the best fish around here we'd have to go out on the water, and I'm still not comfortable with having you get that close to it again until you can swim. Coming outside on the island with us is close enough to the water for now."

MaryRose nodded. She was a bit disappointed, but she understood.

Skipper sighed slightly and then patted MaryRose on the shoulder. "Daddy just suffers from paranoia about certain things," he explained. "Like the rise of the metric system and too few escape tunnels and his only child getting hurt. But I promise we'll go fishing someday, and I know we'll have a great time together."

MaryRose hugged Skipper's chest. "Any time with you is great."

Skipper smiled, knowing MaryRose understood. "You took the words right out of my beak," he said before kissing her head. "Now come on, let's get something to eat."

— § —

**_December 2, 2022_**

A month had passed since MaryRose had entered the world, and Skipper wanted to celebrate the event in a big and memorable way. So even though he had been uncomfortable with them since Nairobi, Skipper decided that he wanted to throw her a surprise party.

After planning things out with the boys, Skipper left the HQ with MaryRose to give the others time to prepare. After spending a number of hours together, Skipper and MaryRose returned to the habitat around 4:30. As he carried her into the base, the penguin quartet broke into song:

"_For she's a jolly good penguin, for she's a jolly good penguin  
>For she's a jolly good penguin, which nobody can deny<br>Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny  
>For she's a jolly good penguin, for she's a jolly good penguin<br>For she's a jolly good penguin, which nobody can deny!_"

"You're a month old today, MaryRose," Skipper said, "and that calls for a celebration." He looked toward Rico and continued, "It also calls for ..."

"Fiiiiish! ... cake," Rico sang in his operatic voice as he revealed the layered cake he was holding, from which several fish heads and tails were randomly protruding.

MaryRose smiled. "That looks yummy."

"It _tastes_ even better," Skipper said as he began to carry MaryRose to the table. "Come on, let's go have some."

Rico and Kowalski followed Skipper and MaryRose to the table. Private joined a few moments later after filling a bowl with pieces of hard butterscotch candy for everyone to share.

Once they were all together, Rico regurgitated a single pink birthday candle and stuck it in the middle of the cake. He then produced a book of matches, struck one, and then blew it out suddenly before shaking his head. After tossing the match behind him, he regurgitated his trusty flamethrower and lit the candle his way—with that added touch of pyromania.

"OK, MaryRose," Skipper said as he held her at the table, "there's just one more thing that has to happen before we can all enjoy your delicious fish cake."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You have to make a wish and then blow out the candle." He held her up so that she could get a little closer to the cake. "Make a good one, sweetie."

"Hmm," she said as she looked down at the candle's flickering flame, "I wish for—"

"Oh, MaryRose," Kowalski said, "don't tell us what you're wishing for."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she turned her head toward him. "I didn't know."

"Don't worry, it's not something you have to apologize for," Kowalski said. "It's just that a wish made while blowing out candles is 57 percent less likely to come true if revealed by the wisher. I'm just looking out for you because I want your wish to have the greatest chance of succeeding."

MaryRose sort of understood what her uncle was trying to tell her. She smiled and nodded at his advice and then made her wish silently before blowing out the candle.

After the others clapped their flippers for her, Skipper lowered MaryRose away from the cake. Rico then cut it with a U.S. Marine Corps noncommissioned officer's sword, once again using more tool than necessary. Fortunately, he manipulated the weapon smoothly with almost surgeon-like precision.

Once Rico had given them each a piece, the penguins began to eat the cake in celebration of MaryRose's thirty days. As they were needed, he also passed them seconds and thirds.

When only a few sprinkles and crumbs remained, Skipper turned MaryRose around to face him. "So, are you ready to open some gifts now?" he asked.

MaryRose couldn't believe there was more. "I get gifts too?"

"Of course!" Skipper replied. He got up from the cinder block he was sitting on and set MaryRose on the floor before sitting down next to her. The others then came over to them.

Rico gave MaryRose his gift first—or at least he tried to. He got as far as regurgitating something cylindrical covered with colorful fish wrapping paper before Skipper stopped him from handing it to MaryRose, simply saying, "She's too young." Rico sighed and then swallowed the dynamite back down to save for his niece for another day. Maybe Christmas.

Private then handed MaryRose an irregularly shaped small package, which she quickly began to unwrap. It took her a moment to rip off all the paper to find a Lunacorn inside. "Is this Princess Self-Elantra?" she asked.

"Self-_Respectra_," Private replied. "She's always been one of my favorite characters, and in the spirit of Prince Shares-a-Lot, I'd like to share her with you." He turned to Skipper. "If you don't mind me giving her a Lunacorn, that is."

"Well, I still think _The Lunacorns_ is full of touchy-feely propaganda," Skipper said, "but I suppose it's OK if _little girls_ want to play with dolls. I'll let it slide. For now."

"Thanks, Uncle Private," MaryRose said as she set her Lunacorn down next to her.

Skipper turned to Kowalski. "Kowalski, you're up next."

"I, uh," he said as he began to rapidly flip through pages of notes on his clipboard, "I have nothing. After spending hours experimenting with different formulas to try to determine the best possible gift for MaryRose, I simply ran out of time. I'm sorry." He flipped back to the first page and then handed the clipboard to MaryRose. "Here you go, MaryRose; your very first clipboard. Just think of me whenever you balance chemical equations."

"Balance what?" MaryRose said as she accepted the clipboard, which was taller than she was. She then thanked Kowalski for his gift.

"And now it's my turn," Skipper said. He reached to his right and then handed MaryRose a small manila envelope.

Inside, MaryRose found a long ball chain, a much shorter ball chain, and two identical metal tags that were two inches long. She couldn't read them, but each tag was embossed with words in capital letters:

FIDELIS  
>MARYROSE E.<br>203-22-H6Y7  
>AVIAN A POS.<br>CHRISTIANITY

"Those are called _dog tags_, sweetie," Skipper said. "They're a special form of identification worn by military personnel. As penguins, we do not actually wear our dog tags, but your uncles and I each still have a set as part of the Penguin Unit. Welcome to our team." He then offered his daughter a salute.

"Thanks, Daddy," MaryRose said as she copied the gesture back. She then broke protocol by hugging her commanding officer, but no more than Skipper did by hugging back.

Thinking quickly, Rico regurgitated a camera and took a photo of Skipper and MaryRose together. He wasn't usually one for mushy sentimentality, but at least he now had a gift for MaryRose that was age appropriate.

— § —

**_December 3, 2022_**

Upon detecting an unfamiliar, pungent odor, MaryRose, standing outside on the island with Skipper, turned around and saw a plume of blue smoke rising through the fish bowl entrance to the HQ. She then heard Kowalski cry out "Sweet mother of catfish!" in a tone that suggested shock and panic.

Startled by Kowalski's exclamation, MaryRose quickly tapped on Skipper's side to alert him. "Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Kowalski needs help!"

Skipper merely chuckled as he turned around. "He's fine, sweetie. Trust me, I've spent the vast majority of my life working with him. It's only when I _don't_ hear shrieks of terror coming from his lab that I become concerned."

MaryRose nodded as she absorbed this new information. She was then silent for a moment as she thought about all of what Kowalski had called out. "What's a mother?"

"A mother is a parent who is a female—a girl," Skipper answered. "As opposed to a father, a parent who is a male—a boy."

"Do you have a mother?"

"I do, though I haven't seen her in a long time. She's your grandmother."

"Do I?"

Skipper thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Everyone has a father and a mother, MaryRose," he said. "But your mother died before you hatched. I'm sorry."

MaryRose looked up at Skipper, more confused than upset. "But why? Did she not like me?"

"Oh, MaryRose," Skipper said as he picked her up, "that's not the case at all. I didn't know her, but I'm sure she would have loved you. In fact, the last thing she did was to ensure that you'd be a part of this world."

"How?"

"Well, she laid your egg. You remember being inside your egg, don't you?"

MaryRose nodded. "A little. But where was I before?"

Skipper chuckled. "There's a lot to explain when you get older, MaryRose." It then struck him deeply that if MaryRose's mother hadn't died, he would never have known his daughter, or even known that he had one. "At least the things that can be explained."

MaryRose turned slightly so she could cuddle up against Skipper's chest feathers. She thought about what he had said for a moment and then asked with sweet innocence, "You won't die, will you?"

Skipper thought about the question for a moment. As much as he wanted to tell her otherwise, fate was beyond his control. It had given him a daughter, but it had taken away the child's mother at the same time. It was a truly unpredictable force, perhaps even a prejudiced one as well. But one thing he knew for sure.

"Love doesn't die, MaryRose," he said, "so I can't think of any way that we'd ever be torn apart."


	6. Scrambled Egg

**_December 4, 2022_**

It was Alice's second-favorite time of day.

"Ah, lunch," she said to herself as she sat down alone in the zoo's office. She removed the Subway sandwich she had purchased nearby from its wrapping and looked it over. "No kids. No tourists asking me where the bathrooms are. No ... penguins. No one here but you, you delicious nine-dollar footlong. Of course, I do remember when you used to cost just five dollars—curse you, inflation."

She was about to take a bite when there was a knock at the door. She groaned. "Go away, we don't want any."

"What was that?" the man outside asked.

Alice sighed. "Nothing. I'll be right there." She set her sandwich down and then opened the door. "Can I help you?"

"Dr. Roland DeGrego from the Maryland Zoo," the man said, offering Alice his hand. "Your colleague said you'd be in here—I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. I just drove in this morning, and I was hoping I might be able to see how our little penguin chick is doing."

"Well, she's certainly the best behaved of the five," Alice said. She let go of Roland's hand. "Listen, I'm officially on break right now, but if you don't mind me eating a sandwich, I'll show you to the penguin habitat, and I'll try to answer any questions you may have."

Roland smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

After grabbing her sandwich, Alice walked with Roland to the penguin habitat. There they found Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and MaryRose standing on the island together, MaryRose not far from her father's side. Roland looked at the two and around the habitat for about a minute before pulling out a camera. "Fifty-six megapixels in this one," he said as he began to shoot photos of Skipper and MaryRose. "My, how technology moves quickly. I used to shoot film as a kid."

After Roland had taken close to thirty pictures of Skipper and MaryRose and none of him or Rico, Kowalski turned to his leader. "What are Rico and I, chopped liver? Do you know this guy or something?"

"I can't say that I do," Skipper replied. "He's probably just a harmless shutterbug who awws over baby penguins like any other human, though I suppose you can never be too safe these days, especially with kids. All right, back inside the HQ, everyone."

Skipper, MaryRose, and Rico then went back into the base through the fish bowl entrance. The fact that they were now disappearing did not arouse Alice's suspicions—or at least not _as much_ as it used to—because a second level had been added to the penguin habitat in 2017. Or at least she _thought_ it had been added. She didn't know the penguins had actually, in order to preserve the secrecy of their HQ, built another replica zoo in Central Park to be worked on instead—Gus had learned nothing from 2010.

Though Skipper had ordered everyone inside, Kowalski decided to remain standing on the island by himself, hoping that with the others gone the man might finally take some photos of him. But instead of engaging in photographic pursuits, Roland quickly became involved in a conversation with Alice.

"So, what do you think?" Alice asked as Roland put the lens cap back on his camera.

"She looks great," Roland replied. "She's growing well and seems to be in excellent health. She seems to have been accepted well by the flock and has a strong bond with the male she was with." He paused for a moment. "But I do find it a bit strange that her father is nowhere to be seen."

Alice took a bite of her sandwich. "What do you mean? The flat-headed troublemaker _is_ her father."

"No, he _isn't_. I know which penguin I worked on, and it wasn't him."

Alice nearly choked on her sandwich but was able to recover after a few coughs. "But he's the one I gave the egg to. Short and fat, just like you said. 'Spare tire,' remember?"

Just then, Roland caught a glimpse of Private, who had been inside the HQ for the entire time Roland had been there so far, waddling back into the HQ after coming to the fish bowl for a snack. "That one was my guy," he said as he pointed at the disappearing penguin. "It seems you made a mistake, Alice."

"Well, you gave me a poor description! This is your fault for not coming up from Baltimore and bringing the egg here yourself!"

"No need to raise your voice, ma'am; what's done is done. The situation may be a little strange, but the chick is alive and well, and as a vet, that's the most important thing to me. Her adoptive parent is terrific, so I have no concerns about the little one's future. It's not like her real father will ever find out anyway."

Inside the penguin habitat, Kowalski stared at Roland and Alice in shock. Had he gone back inside the HQ with the others, he would never have learned of this startling mix-up. Now an enormous weight was on him, and he didn't know what to do or whom to believe.

"I guess you're right, Roland," Alice said. She paused for a moment and massaged her fingers nervously. "So, do you think we can keep this little mistake between us? I've never been promoted, but I've also never been fired."

"Promise to take extra special care of her and keep me updated on her development, and I think I can agree."

The deal was simple and required only minimal extra effort. Alice nodded. "You have my word."

As the conversation between Alice and Roland began to move on to other subjects, Kowalski decided to return to the HQ so the others wouldn't begin to wonder what was keeping him. But to his surprise, he was completely unnoticed when he descended the ladder back into the base because the others were gathered around the TV engrossed in some old penguin cartoon. Kowalski welcomed their distraction as he hadn't yet decided how best to proceed. It gave him more time to think.

Standing motionless so as not to draw any attention to himself, Kowalski looked at MaryRose all cuddled up with Skipper on the floor across the room. "How can it be that they have no deoxyribonucleic acid in common?" he thought to himself. "That vet doesn't know what he's talking about. If Skipper isn't MaryRose's father, carbon isn't an element. And I'm going to prove it."

Determined to establish that Skipper was MaryRose's father beyond a shadow of a doubt, Kowalski silently made his way into the penguins' bathroom to collect the toothbrushes—or _beakbrushes_, as they called them—of Skipper, Private, and MaryRose for DNA extraction. Once collected, he carried the items into his lab carefully so as not to cause cross-contamination. Acting in a way that could best be described as a cross between a scientist and Maury Povich, he began to think of how he was going to create a paternity test using only the equipment and materials in his lab.

It took four long hours and a small slice of Jiggles that he had saved since the last decade for Kowalski to come up with an accurate method; it took four short seconds to analyze the results once the tests had been performed. Kowalski sighed. "I guess it's time to revise the periodic table."

"What to do? What to do?" he thought to himself as he began to weigh options. There were really only two. The first was to remain silent about Private's being MaryRose's father and allow Skipper to continue his beautiful relationship with the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. But it would be a lie. The second was to tell Skipper and Private what he had learned, throwing both their lives into disarray, perhaps forever. But it would be the truth.

He ultimately concluded that both Skipper and Private had a right to know. The truth was the right thing, even if it tasted bitter and shot unsuspecting victims through the heart.

After mentally preparing himself for what he had to do, Kowalski opened the door to his lab. After clearing his throat, he called over to his leader, "Hey, Skipper, could you join me in the lab for a moment? I need to tell you something."

Skipper looked across the room to where Kowalski was standing. It had been hours since they had last seen each other. "So that's where you've been all this time. I never saw you come in." He stood up and lifted MaryRose into his flippers and then began to waddle over to join Kowalski.

Kowalski held a flipper up as they approached the doorway. "Leave MaryRose with Private and Rico—what I have to tell you is classified."

Skipper rolled his eyes. "She's a month old, Kowalski. She's not going to tell anyone."

Kowalski just looked at Skipper with a serious expression. He didn't have to speak another word for Skipper to know that something difficult would be the topic of conversation. Appreciative, Skipper set MaryRose down and told her to rejoin Private and Rico in front of the TV before he entered the lab with Kowalski alone.

"Who died?" Skipper asked, judging by the sadness that Kowalski had written all over his face.

"It's not that, but it's not good, sir," Kowalski began as he collected his thoughts one final time. "Earlier today, after everyone else had left and I stayed behind on the island, I overheard Alice and the man she was with talking about you and MaryRose. He wasn't a regular visitor or a photographer but rather the veterinarian from the Maryland Zoo responsible for MaryRose's existence. He told her something that I found too shocking to believe, so I decided to use science to find out the truth for myself. Unfortunately, the vet was right." Kowalski wrapped his flippers around his leader, knowing the next words he spoke would be the hardest both to deliver and to receive. "Alice made a serious mistake when she gave you MaryRose's egg back in September," he continued, trying to hold back his own tears. "I can't believe I have to tell you this, but you're not her father. Private is."

Had he not been a scientist and known better, Kowalski would have sworn Skipper's heart had just split in two.

"No! No, it's not true!" Skipper cried as he collapsed against Kowalski, as if begging with all his heart would somehow change the DNA results. "She's my whole life, Kowalski! I love her so much!"

Kowalski held on to Skipper tighter. "I'm so, so sorry, Skipper. I hate myself for having to tell you, but I felt that it was the right thing to do. I'm here for you as long as you need me. It'll be OK."

"No, Kowalski. Nothing will ever be OK. Not when I know the happiest moments of my life belonged to someone else."

"They're still your moments, Skipper. Nothing can ever take them away."

"But I want _her_! I want the _reason_ those moments are so special. I want my daughter." He let go of Kowalski and dropped to the floor and crawled on it slowly until he came to the wall. He then curled up facing it and let the tears flow freely. "I want my daughter. I love my daughter. I love you, MaryRose," he whispered as he cried through each word. He then repeated himself: "I want my daughter. I love my daughter. I love you, MaryRose." He repeated it again. And again. And again ...

Kowalski watched in silence, knowing that Skipper wanted to be alone. The scientist soon waddled over to a chair across the lab and sat down in it and began to stare at the ceiling. "What have I done?" he thought to himself, no longer able to hold back his own tears.

— § —

After suffering through the initial shock, Skipper was able to pull himself together enough to have a conversation with Kowalski once a few hours had passed. The pain was still there, however, as evidenced by the tears he wiped away with a flipper every few minutes, a physical form of the emptiness he felt inside.

After a while, Kowalski sighed. "Everyone's probably wondering why we've been in here so long. I should probably tell Private the news before it gets too late. It's going to be up to the two of you to decide what's in MaryRose's best interest. You can wait here, and I'll call him in."

Skipper then began to see images of the inevitable in his mind: himself handing MaryRose to Private, MaryRose sleeping on top of Private's chest at night, Private teaching MaryRose how to swim, Private holding MaryRose at her first birthday party, all the memories and milestones he'd no longer be a part of. He didn't blame Private for what had happened or harbor any ill will against him, but he certainly envied him. With a daughter as sweet as MaryRose, how could he not?

After a moment, Skipper came back to reality. He waddled up to Kowalski just as the scientist was about to open the door of his lab. "Wait, Kowalski. Can you wait until tomorrow morning to tell Private? I don't think my heart can handle any more tonight."

Kowalski nodded, knowing a little more time was what Skipper needed. "OK, Skipper. Get a good night's sleep, and we'll talk to Private after breakfast."

With that, the two exited Kowalski's lab to find that the TV was still on, though it was no longer being watched. In front of it, two adult penguins and one penguin chick lay defeated by the late hour—three more victories for the Sandman.

Kowalski looked up at the clock on the wall. "I guess we were in there for a while. So, what do you want to do with our sleeping beauties?"

"Rico and Private can stay where they dropped, but I'll take MaryRose in with me," Skipper said. "Any other day I wouldn't want to disturb her, but you can understand why I really want to hold her right now." He waddled over to MaryRose and gently picked her up as Kowalski turned off the TV.

After looking at her in his flippers for a few minutes, Skipper carried MaryRose to his bunk and climbed in. Gently, he set the sleeping child on his chest so she could rest with him until morning. Moments after, Kowalski turned off the lights in the HQ and then waddled over to his own bunk. After speaking a few final words of comfort to Skipper, he closed his eyes and soon joined Rico, Private, and MaryRose in dreamland.

Skipper, however, remained wide awake; he did for hours. With all that was on his mind, he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to, though he had no desire to even try. He didn't want to sleep away his final hours as a father; he wanted to spend them close to his daughter. If only she could be part of these final hours more than—

An idea struck him. Slowly, he moved MaryRose beside him and then looked through the darkness of the HQ to see that Rico and Private were still lying on the floor. He then climbed out of his bunk and glanced up to be sure that Kowalski was still asleep before gently tapping MaryRose with a flipper. "MaryRose," he whispered. "MaryRose, wake up, sweetie."

MaryRose was confused to suddenly find herself awake in the darkness. "Daddy? What's going on? Is everything OK?"

"Things are great," he replied, the first lie he had ever told his daughter. "I just have a surprise for you, that's all."

"What?"

"Well, you've impressed me so much with all your missions lately that I want to take you on your very first mission outside the zoo. What do you say?"

MaryRose beamed bright enough to be seen through the darkness. "I'll go anywhere with you, Daddy."

"That's my girl," Skipper whispered, MaryRose's smile both healing his heart and driving the knife in deeper. He lifted MaryRose into his flippers. "Come on, MaryRose, why wait until morning? Let's go have an adventure."


	7. The Inevitable Question

When morning arrived at the penguin HQ, Private was the first one awake. After spending a moment or two wondering why he and Rico were lying on the floor, he recalled the long night of television and reasoned that they must have fallen asleep at some point while watching. Remembering that MaryRose had also been watching TV with them far into the night, he looked for her in the space between them but found that she was no longer there. "Skipper must have taken her," he thought as he turned toward the bunks. But instead of seeing Skipper holding MaryRose as he expected, Private saw an empty bunk with what appeared to be a piece of paper on his leader's pillow.

Hoping it would provide an answer, Private waddled over to Skipper's bunk and picked up the paper. He read the short note that Skipper had written on it, but he didn't understand what it meant. After reading it a second time, Private reached into Kowalski's bunk and shook him awake with a flipper.

Kowalski giggled. "Stop it, Doris; I'm not ticklish!" he said as he playfully pushed Private's flipper away.

"Kowalski, it's me," Private said as he shook him again. "Listen, Skipper and MaryRose are gone, and I found this strange note from Skipper that I don't understand." He held the note out near Kowalski's head.

Already knowing how devastated Skipper had been the previous night, Kowalski became fully awake and took the note from Private. He then sat up and read what Skipper had written:

_Boys,_

_I'm sorry for taking off in the middle of the night, but I just need some final moments of father-daughter time with MaryRose before we are torn apart. I'm taking her wherever she wants to go._

_—Skipper_

"Does it make any sense to you?" Private asked once Kowalski had finished the note. "What did he mean by 'final moments' and 'torn apart'? Skipper's not dying, is he?"

"No. Not unless his broken heart suddenly changes from a figurative sense to a literal sense." He sighed. "But there is something you should know." He took a moment to climb down from his bunk and then stood in front of Private. "First, we shouldn't be worried that MaryRose is in any kind of danger. Skipper didn't kidnap her; he just wants to spend some time alone with her because of something I learned about yesterday and felt he had a right to know. Private, MaryRose is not his biological daughter."

"Oh my goodness! That's so sad. No wonder Skipper is so heartbroken. He loves MaryRose with all his heart."

"And all his soul." Kowalski took a deep breath. "But that's not all I have to tell you. The reason we had all thought MaryRose was Skipper's daughter was that Alice had given MaryRose's egg to him. But being the incompetent zookeeper that she far too often is, she mistakenly gave the egg to Skipper instead of MaryRose's real father—you."

"_Me_?"

Kowalski nodded. "The DNA confirms it. After talking with Skipper last night, the plan was to tell you this morning, which I'm now doing. Though I had expected Skipper to still be here so that the two of you could decide how to proceed with things."

"I ... I don't know how I should feel right now. I feel happy for bringing a chick into the world, but I feel so sad for Skipper. I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel if you had told me that I wasn't a chick's father after I had started raising it. Skipper must really hate me right now."

Kowalski shook his head. "No, Skipper doesn't hate you. I think he might want to slap Alice a few times and curse at the universe with a few four-letter words that are so coarse that they haven't even been invented yet, but he doesn't hate you. He knows that you're just as innocent in all this as he and MaryRose are."

"Well, I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel," Private continued. "Skipper may not hate me, but I still feel strange and confused."

"That's certainly understandable, Private," Kowalski said as he placed a supportive flipper on Private's shoulder. "But don't worry. I'm here to help you through this any way I can, just as I support Skipper."

"I know you are, Kowalski," Private said, placing a flipper on Kowalski's back, "but I think what I really need now is to talk with Skipper. Is there any way to figure out where he and MaryRose might have gone?"

Kowalski shook his head. "Skipper said only that he was taking MaryRose wherever she wanted. And with the way he feels about her, I'm sure he'd even be willing to take her on a tour of Denmark if she asked. They could truly be anywhere."

Private thought about Kowalski's answer for a moment as he tried to imagine the kinds of places MaryRose might want to visit. But she had never left the zoo before—she didn't know what city she lived in, let alone what was in the rest of the world. Wherever MaryRose was, it wasn't some exotic destination. It wasn't even a _place_ at all. It was a _thing_.

"I think I've got it," Private said after a few minutes had passed.

— § —

At the pond just outside the Central Park Zoo, Skipper and MaryRose sat together inside a radio-controlled toy boat, which Skipper had managed to commandeer from some poor, unsuspecting child. Skipper was still reluctant to allow MaryRose to be so close to the water, but he had told her that her "mission" could be whatever she wanted it to be, and she wanted to go fishing more than anything. So before they set out on the water, Skipper spent the early morning hours putting together a lifejacket for MaryRose using discarded Styrofoam cups and plastic bottles. Thank goodness New York had so many litterbugs.

The fishing rod that Skipper had been able to procure—that is, lift from an entirely different poor, unsuspecting child—was much too large for MaryRose to hold, so Skipper held on to it firmly and MaryRose placed her flippers on top of her father's to "help" him.

"Anything yet?" MaryRose asked with sweet optimism after their line had been in the water for around half an hour.

"Not yet, sweetie," Skipper replied. "But don't you worry. As penguins, we are by our very nature expert fishermen—and fisherwomen. We'll catch something eventually."

MaryRose smiled. "I hope so." She turned her head to look at Skipper. "I really like this mission, Daddy. I like being with you."

Skipper would have given MaryRose a hug then, but he couldn't let go of the rod. "I really like this mission too, MaryRose. It's my second most important ever." His eyes began to tear up a little thinking about his _most_ important mission, but suddenly there was a bite on the line. "Whoa! Did you feel that, MaryRose?"

"A fish!"

"Yup," Skipper replied. The fish that had been caught felt small and wasn't putting up much of a fight, so he asked her, "You want to reel it in?"

MaryRose nodded, so Skipper repositioned the rod so she could reach the handle on the crank. She then began to turn it gently to wind up the line.

After two minutes of slow winding, a five-inch golden shiner appeared at the end of the pole. It was a bait fish, but Skipper couldn't have been prouder. "Way to go, MaryRose! You did it."

"_We_ did it," MaryRose said. "Together."

Skipper smiled, and MaryRose let go of the rod so Skipper could remove the wriggling catch from the hook. "Well, the choice is yours," he said as he held the fish in front of her. "We could eat it, or I could put it on a nice plaque for you to remember as your very first catch."

MaryRose thought about the choices for a moment. "Well, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Then it looks like golden shiner is on the menu." Skipper lifted the fish into his mouth and savored it for a moment before biting down to break it in half. After swallowing his piece, he handed the other to MaryRose.

MaryRose put the fish in her beak. "Mmm! It's good. Did you like it too, Daddy?"

Skipper smiled. "MaryRose, that was the best fish I've ever tasted. I've eaten century-old brine-preserved herring, and there's just no comparison. Nothing could ever top this meal we've shared together." As he gave her a hug, an idea came to him. "Nothing could ever top that fish, but how about a little dessert?"

MaryRose nodded.

"Good. I know just the thing." He let go of MaryRose and then started up the toy boat to return to shore.

Back on dry land, Skipper let MaryRose take off her lifejacket, which he left by the boat to be picked up later. He then led the way to a nearby year-round snow cone cart so he could share with her all the wonders of the sweet, frozen treat.

When they got close, Skipper saw that the snow cone vendor was on duty, so he told MaryRose to stay back before knocking him unconscious. After assuring MaryRose that the man he had just KO'd would be fine, Skipper climbed into the cart's freezer and helped himself to the vendor's ices and syrups.

About forty-five seconds later, as he climbed out of the cart carrying a tasty treat in his flipper, his heart skipped a beat. Private and Kowalski were just a short distance away and were heading in his direction. His time alone with MaryRose had run out.

Quickly, Skipper tossed the rainbow cone back into the cart and then lifted MaryRose up into his flippers. He held her tightly as tears began to well up in his eyes. "MaryRose, I love you with all my heart, and I always will," he said, his voice breaking. "Promise me that you will never forget how much I love you."

"I won't forget," she said as she hugged Skipper's chest. "I love you too."

Skipper lifted MaryRose a little higher to give her a kiss on the head. A tear or two fell onto her feathers as he placed his beak on her.

MaryRose was confused. She couldn't understand why her father was so sad all of a sudden, especially after just telling her how much he loved her. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Skipper didn't answer her. Instead, he set her back down on the ground and touched the side of her face. "Wait right here, OK?" he said. "Uncle Kowalski will be right over." He then began to waddle away toward Private and Kowalski, his heart breaking with every step he took farther away from her.

It didn't take long for him to cover the distance. When the three penguins met, Skipper told Kowalski to go watch MaryRose, and Kowalski waddled away to do so after giving Skipper a comforting pat on the back. Private then reached out to hug his hurting brother as Skipper reached out to do the same. Neither one held back any emotion as the tears flowed freely.

"I'm sorry I took her like that," Skipper said as he embraced Private.

Private shook his head. "No, Skipper, _I'm_ sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry."

"It's not your fault, Private. I don't blame you. How can I?"

"I know, but I still feel like I've robbed you of your heart and soul, even if indirectly." He paused for a moment as the anger built up inside him. "Oh, that Alice! How could she have done this to you? To me? To MaryRose? Does she think her mistake is insignificant just because we're penguins?"

Meanwhile, Kowalski had made it over to where MaryRose was so he could stay with her. She seemed very confused and worried as she stared at Skipper and Private a few hundred feet away, so Kowalski picked her up to try to comfort her. "Uncle Kowalski, what's going on?" she asked as she fidgeted in his flippers.

Kowalski sighed as he gave MaryRose a hug. "I've caused two hearts to break when I probably should have just kept my beak shut," he said quietly, mainly to himself, though MaryRose still heard parts of it.

"What?"

"What? Oh," he said, realizing he had probably just confused MaryRose even further. "Your father and uncle care about each other very much, and they're both just trying to help each other through some difficult, grown-up problems." After a moment's pause he added, "You needn't worry; things will be OK."

And he truly hoped they would be.

MaryRose looked a little less worried after Kowalski's assurance, but it was evident to him that she was still concerned about whatever these sudden problems were. Remembering the day that Skipper had talked to him about the roles of an honorary uncle, Kowalski moved MaryRose into one flipper and then used his other to gently grab at her beak. "Got your beak!" he said with a smile, giving MaryRose the temporary distraction she needed. And that he needed.

There was no such distraction available to Skipper and Private, however. Their hearts truly bled for each other; never had there been a more heartbreaking event in the Penguin Unit or in either of their lives.

"Oh, Skipper," Private said, "I wish there were a way for us to go back to the end of September to change things so we didn't have to be here today. I especially wish it were possible for your sake; it wasn't fair for you to have been set up for heartbreak."

Skipper shook his head. "No, Private. Even if it were possible, I would refuse. MaryRose may not be mine, but I wouldn't trade or try to get rid of the past two months for anything. She was and will always be the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, and no matter how much I hurt today, I'm a better penguin for having had her in my life. I regret nothing."

Skipper's words were so moving and so heartbreaking that Private didn't know what to say. Instead, he remained silent for a few moments before asking the inevitable question: "What happens now, Skipper?"

_What happens now?_ It was the same question Private had asked him when he handed MaryRose's egg to him back in September. Skipper let go of Private and looked toward Kowalski holding MaryRose a short distance away. It was a bit too far to see her eyes with his, but he could see them clearly in his heart. And as he gazed into their beautiful blue, Skipper could see himself standing and holding MaryRose's egg in his flippers at the moment his mission began. As images of memories of her life so far began to float all around him, he was once again lost in a world that only he and MaryRose shared.

Private watched in silence as Skipper gazed at MaryRose in the distance. He had no problem with Skipper's taking all the time he needed.

Then, after about ten minutes had passed, Skipper continued to look into MaryRose's eyes as he said, crying slowly, "You're a good soldier, Private; I know you'll treat her right. But how am I going to tell MaryRose that I won't be her daddy anymore? How am I going to tell myself?"

Private turned his head to look toward MaryRose as well. As his eyes focused on her, images of memories began to race through his mind as well, only they were not truly his memories. Instead, all the scenes that he had witnessed of Skipper and MaryRose together over the past month began to play before him. He saw her hatching, of course, her first words, and all her other milestones, but there were so many little moments as well—the simple things that made a father-daughter relationship so special and so rewarding, the joys that Skipper would surely miss the most.

Private's eyes again filled up with tears, but they were no longer his. He turned to Skipper and gently placed a flipper on his shoulder and answered with a single word: "Don't."

Skipper looked at Private. "Don't what?"

Private reached out and hugged Skipper tightly. "MaryRose is your daughter, and she always will be. You built her a nest. You sat on her egg. You fed her. You're more responsible for giving her life than the trivial role I had in it." He began to hug Skipper even tighter. "She loves you with all her heart, and you love her with all of yours. The two of you share a bond that is beyond DNA, and I will never, ever break it up."

"Private, I—" was all Skipper could say as Private's words deeply touched his heart. He reached out and held Private close. "Oh, Private, you'd let her go ... for me?"

"I'm not letting her go, Skipper; I'm letting her stay where she truly belongs."

Skipper was the one who now found himself at a loss for words. "Oh, Private, I don't know what to say," he said after a moment. "I'd say 'thank you,' but those words seem so small considering what you've given me. I can't think of a word or phrase to express just how grateful I am." He dried some of his joyful tears with a flipper and then placed it back around Private.

"I don't need to be thanked. I'll always know what I did was right every time I see you and MaryRose together." Private looked toward MaryRose and Kowalski again and then back to Skipper and smiled. "Well, don't let me keep you any longer," he said as he let go of Skipper. "I'll see you back at the HQ later."

Skipper let go of him and smiled back. Private then watched as Skipper left him and ran as quickly as he could toward MaryRose.

When Skipper was about halfway there, Kowalski knew something good was happening, so he set MaryRose down on the ground. She then saw Skipper running toward her and took off waddling toward him.

When they met moments later, Skipper scooped MaryRose up into his flippers and then held her against his chest as he spun around three times before laying himself on the ground on his back. MaryRose hugged her father with her little flippers as he surrounded her with his. He then placed his beak on her head and kissed her.

"Daddy! Daddy! Is everything OK?" she asked when she saw that Skipper was crying again.

"Oh, MaryRose," Skipper said as he kissed her again, "things have never been better."


	8. Epilogue: Surprises

**_December 6, 2022_**

It was around 2:30 a.m. when the sound of the penguins' food dish being slid over to expose the entrance to the HQ broke the dead silence of the night, though none of the five flightless birds inside were awake to hear it. Seconds later, a figure began to descend the ladder, stopping after a few rungs to press a button on a key chain to turn off the HQ's security system before continuing down to the bottom.

After making contact with the floor, the figure proceeded to the penguins' bunks and scanned them from top to bottom, smiling upon making out Skipper's sleeping form in the bottommost one. The visitor then found a nearby cot, dragged it over to be in front of and level with Skipper's bunk, and then lay down on it before beginning to cuddle up with Skipper.

"Who's there!" Skipper shouted as he sprang awake. He rolled over and pinned the intruder in a tenth of a second flat.

"You haven't changed a bit," Marlene said calmly. "And that's why I love you."

"Marlene, you're back!" Skipper quickly released his hold on Marlene and instead held her close. "I've missed you. I never thought you'd be gone for so long."

"Neither did I. The mission was successful, but not before I suffered a little setback."

"Setback?"

Marlene chuckled. "Yeah. Apparently I can't set foot in Norway."

"Really? Wow, Marlene, I am both shocked and impressed." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Tell me about it. You know, unless it's classified, of course. I wouldn't want you to feel pressured to tell me something just because I'm your husband and commanding officer."

"Oh, I'll tell you, Skipper, but if you don't mind, I think I'll save all the gory details about the Oslo incident for later. Right now, I just want to enjoy being back home and being with you again." She softly ran a paw down the side of Skipper's face. "So, what's new with you?"

"What's new with me?" Skipper chuckled. "Oh, nothing much. Except for—hold on a second."

Skipper turned around and gently lifted MaryRose, who was sleeping peacefully, into his left flipper. He then reached for a nearby flashlight with his right.

Because of the darkness of the HQ, Marlene could not make out what Skipper was holding when he turned back around to face her. Then Skipper turned the flashlight on.

"Well, Marlene, you know how you've always wanted to adopt?"

* * *

><p>And so ends <em>Beyond DNA<em> as a story, but so begins a new chapter in the lives of Skipper, Marlene, and MaryRose. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I did writing it.

When I began writing fan fiction in 2009, I never thought I'd write a story about any of the characters having children. _Beyond DNA_ started out as just another idea I had one day—something worth adding to my notes but probably never doing anything else with. But after just a few hours, I had already come up with a basic plot in my head, and I knew that I had to turn the idea into a complete story. The resulting work may very well be the most emotional thing I've ever written, fiction or nonfiction. _Beyond DNA_ is also personally special because MaryRose was my first major original character and personally historic because I used it to improve how I write dialogue.

As always, thank you to all who have taken the time to read my story, especially the seventeen who have reviewed, who together have submitted a total of forty reviews for _Beyond DNA_ so far. You know who you are, but I'd still like to recognize the following people for making all the long hours I put in to write this story the most worthwhile: **Rookie70Penguin**, **InternetGirl123**, **Historian1912**, **hardrocker21**, **Princess Bubblegum11**, **Carolyn the Dark Angel**, **KristenTheKittyKat**, **Adenn666**, **TheSkySpritsTalentShow**, **POM4ever**, **StoriesAreMagic**, **Hhgfhg**, **EeveeRoseRunner**, **Kukipye**, **13thsense**, **The Young and Free Dragon**, and **Semillas de Melon**. Thank you as well to those who have complimented me on Fanpop.

_—GrandOldPenguin  
><em>Sunday, January 15, 2012  
>6:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time<p>

[Story last revised February 21, 2015.]


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